


i will never find another you

by mystic_legacies



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: F/F, but the two of them are magnetic, feelings don't just disappear, it'll be a bumpy road, it's paris, josie's pining for penelope, maybe some angst?, they were each other's first love, they're in college, we'll see where this goes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-08
Updated: 2020-05-08
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:00:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,728
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24066979
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mystic_legacies/pseuds/mystic_legacies
Summary: "If I saw you on the street, would it be instant or would we have to be reintroduced?"orThe one where Josie and Penelope run into each other in Paris two years after parting ways.
Relationships: Penelope Park & Josie Saltzman, Penelope Park/Josie Saltzman
Comments: 13
Kudos: 133





	i will never find another you

When Josie decided to study abroad in Paris during her junior year of college, she picked the City of Lights for its never-ending streets, romantic charm, and most importantly, buttery croissants. She had plans of spending her semester getting lost in Parisian culture, sipping exquisite wine, and exploring the historical architecture.

The fact that Penelope Park was studying philosophy at Sorbonne University, a few minutes away from Josie’s apartment in the Latin Quarter, was purely coincidental. Or, at least that’s what Josie was telling herself after hearing the fact slip from Hope’s lips last year.

However, Josie doesn’t spend much time dwelling on thoughts of her ex-girlfriend because as soon as she steps out the front door of her apartment, she’s met with a crisp morning wind that blows away any reminiscent thoughts.

With only a week until the beginning of classes, Josie set her alarm for seven o’clock in the morning so she could explore the city she gets to call home for the next sixteen weeks. After spending the past two days trapped inside because of heavy rain, Josie had more than enough time to unpack her things and was ready to immerse herself in the Parisian lifestyle.

While walking down an empty cobblestone street that was slick from last night’s storm, Josie tries her hardest not to trip on the uneven surface. Her slow pace, however, gives her time to admire how apartment windows were, one-by-one, slowly illuminating with light as people woke up to start their day.

A small smile graces her face as she watches the world unravel before her eyes, and that smile remains on her face as she heads in the direction of where a cluster of restaurants line the streets.

Josie didn’t have a particular destination for breakfast in mind and found herself walking past numerous cafés, waiting for one to catch her eye.

It isn’t until she passes by a quiet café with a number of plants lining its window that Josie pauses, suddenly paralyzed by a gravitational pull on her heart. She stands outside the building and tries to decipher the tingling feeling coursing through her veins. The odd sensation subconsciously intimidates Josie, but she takes a deep breath before pushing open the front door, leaving her worries outside.

Josie sits at a table near the window before ordering a croissant and espresso, and it’s not long until her breakfast is placed in front of her. She gazes outside as she bites into the fresh croissant and a silent moan escapes her lips as the pastry practically melts in her mouth. She admires the humane simplicity of people walking down the street, hugging their coats close due to the wind, but is immediately brought out of her thoughts after taking a sip of the bitter espresso.

 _Add that to the list of things I’ll have to get used to from now on_ , she notes with a grimace.

Josie stares at the menacing coffee, determined to conquer the cup of European culture, but just as she’s about to take another sip, a voice interrupts her.

“Need some milk for that?” someone asks while placing a small cup of white liquid on the table.

The person’s voice sends chills down Josie’s spine and freezes her in place. She keeps her gaze focused down at the cup in front of her and tries to ignore how fast her heart is beating. Suddenly, the air in the café is dense with tension, making it hard to breathe normally, and her senses are overloaded with disbelief at the familiarity of the person’s voice.

 _No, it can’t be_ , Josie chants to herself.

It feels like hours have passed by the time Josie works up the courage to turn her head toward the voice. Her breath gets caught in her throat when she’s met with a pair of green eyes she used to call home.

“Penelope,” she whispers.

The other girl’s eyes shine with adoration, “Hey, Jojo.”

Josie can’t help but smile because, all of a sudden, the concept of time disappears as the two girls drink in each other’s presence. Josie takes note of how Penelope’s hair has grown since the last time she saw her and how her eyes seem older with maturity. Surprisingly, Josie still sees fragments of the girl she once knew in the familiar glimmers of pure adoration pooling in Penelope’s eyes. Memories of the numerous times Josie looked in Penelope’s eyes and saw the same look she sees right now, two years later, brings a sudden tightness to her chest.

“What’re you doing here?” Penelope asks softly, afraid to break the intoxicating bubble of captivation they were in.

“I’m studying abroad here for the semester. What about you?”

Penelope breaks eye contact to look around the café and explains, “I work here.”

“Oh,” Josie trails off.

“I saw how you reacted when you tried the espresso and remembered how you couldn’t even drink coffee without tablespoons of sugar and creamer, so I brought this over,” Penelope gestures to the small cup of milk sitting on the table, a playful smile dancing on her lip.

Lost for words, Josie remains distracted by the unbelievable odds she chose to walk into this café out of the dozen other she passed by and can only utter out a simple, “Thanks for that.”

A silence settles in the air, and the two ex-girlfriends remain lost in time and each other until a bell rings as a customer steps through the front door.

“Penelope!” a man suddenly yells from somewhere, ripping the two girls out of their trance-like state and back to reality.

“Sorry, I need to get back to work. It was nice seeing you again, Josie.”

Penelope turns around before Josie can even find the words for a farewell and is already too far to hear Josie’s strangled, “Bye.”

Now alone at the table with a half-eaten croissant and a cold espresso, Josie’s left with a whirlwind of thoughts. Part of her is confused by what happened and how nonchalant it all seemed. Another part of her feels like a starstruck high schooler who just spoke to their crush. And another part of her is in disbelief of the fact that Penelope Park, the love of her life, was just standing in front of her.

As more people walk through the door, the louder their voices and the café get, but the noise never reaches a level that deafens Josie’s messy thoughts.

Even though she knew Penelope was attending school in Paris, she never imagined running into her so soon, or even at all.

Even though she’d rehearsed numerous apologies throughout the past two years, she never actually thought she’d have the opportunity to say the words.

Even though she’d dreamed of being in Penelope’s arms, she never believed she’d feel the electricity of the other girl’s touch again.

For the longest time, Josie thought all of those things were simply fantasies meant to live in her imagination, but now that Penelope was only a few feet away, she can’t help but feel terrified at the opportunity standing in front of her.

As Penelope remains distracted with a family of American tourists struggling to read the French menu, Josie watches her with conflicted eyes. She knows it's selfish to wish Penelope would drop everything and have a simple conversation, but Josie hates the feeling of being so far from something that’s teetering within her reach. She knows she has no right to ask for Penelope’s time when all she did was push her away and call her mean names two years ago, but they were in immature high school kids then, and she’d like to think things have changed.

But the more Josie watches Penelope jump from table to table, the more anxious thoughts invade her mind. She wonders if Penelope even wants to talk to her at all, if there’s a reason Penelope hasn’t circled back to her table, but most importantly, if Penelope has moved on. She wonders if Penelope found someone who laughs at horror movies with her, someone who goes on spontaneous midnight drives with her, someone who makes her happy in ways Josie never did.

Almost on cue, a girl walks through the front door of the café, and her eyes scan the whole room, stopping once they settle on Penelope who’s hidden in the back, retrieving change for a table. Josie’s heart drums against her chest as she watches the girl walk towards Penelope and surprise her with a kiss. Immediately, the couple gets lost in each other and forgets about the world around them.

As Penelope wraps her arms around the other girl, Josie feels a thousand needles stab her heart when she remembers the way Penelope’s embrace used to feel. It’s torture to look at the couple, but Josie can’t bring herself to tear her eyes away. She sees a caring glint in Penelope’s eyes and wonders if Penelope ever used to look at her that way.

It’s not until she accidentally catches Penelope's eyes that Josie whips her head away and looks out the window, her cheeks instantly heating up with embarrassment. She tries to focus on the cars speeding by, but the thoughts rushing through her mind win the race. Her eyes burn when she realizes that maybe her relationship with Penelope wasn’t the epic love she always believed they were.

That one thought alone breaks down the dam controlling Josie’s emotions, and before she knows it, she’s fishing through her purse for cash. Her hands are shaking, and her worries are clouding her mind. It’s suddenly hard to breathe, but once she finds more than enough cash to cover her meal, Josie places it on the table and hastily gets up to leave. With no intention of having a breakdown in public, Josie races out of the café with hopes of not catching Penelope’s attention.

The cold air does nothing to soothe Josie’s messy mind because a storm brews deep inside her body, a hurricane of emotions repeatedly bombard her heart with anxiety and remorse. All Josie wants is to get as far away from the café as possible, but just like always, luck isn’t on Josie’s side.

She doesn’t make it more than a few feet down the street until she’s frozen by someone yelling, “You weren’t gonna say goodbye?”

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, everyone! Now that school is winding down, and I have nothing else to do, I decided to get back into writing again. It’s been a while since I’ve written something that isn’t a scientific research paper, so some feedback would be much appreciated! Hope you guys enjoyed this because I had so much fun writing it!


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